


most happiness comes from dumb things

by 1FantasticBeastThatYouCantFind



Series: Old Dolio/Melanie One Shots [2]
Category: Kajillionaire (2020)
Genre: Birthday, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Post-Canon, melanie just wants old dolio to be happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29453721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1FantasticBeastThatYouCantFind/pseuds/1FantasticBeastThatYouCantFind
Summary: Old Dolio doesn't think that she should do anything for her birthday. After all, her parents never did and she's almost used to it by now. Melanie couldn't disagree more.
Relationships: Old Dolio/Melanie (Kajillionaire)
Series: Old Dolio/Melanie One Shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151477
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	most happiness comes from dumb things

**Author's Note:**

> **COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK ARE GREATLY APPRICIATED**

For Melanie, the day started out like any other. She made herself and Old Dolio pancakes. The two of them got ready for work. Melanie continued to work at Abram's Optics. Old Dolio got a job as a clerk at the gas station. Melanie kept suggesting that she work for a security company, due to her knowledge of security cameras. But who was she to question or get in the way of what her girlfriend wanted.

As part of their daily routine, it took forever for Melanie to finish her food because she spent a lot of the time watching her girlfriend admirably. It didn't take long for Old Dolio to notice. "What is it", asked Old Dolio, whose mouth was filled with pancakes.

Melanie's chin rested on her palm as she started lovingly at Old Dolio. "Oh, nothing. It's just..." She sighed, dreamily. "I love you".

As Old Dolio swallowed her food, she found herself turning red and she could help but smiled. "thanks", she muttered. "Love you too."

The two of them were so head-over-heels for each other that Old Dolio didn't even notice her phone going off.

Melanie, on the other hand, did. "Um, babe? Your, uh, your phone is..." Melanie trailed off. She couldn't help but look at Old Dolio's phone screen. No one had texted her. No one was calling her. It wasn't an AMBER alert. It wasn't a delayed alarm. Instead, it was a reminder from Old Dolio's calendar. A reminder that it was...

"It's your birthday!?"

Old Dolio immediately fell back to earth and snatched her phone back from the table, turning off the alert. "That's nothing", she answered, quietly.

"It's not nothing! It's your birthday!"

"No, it's not", Old Dolio lied, her tone rising quite a bit. "You must have read that wrong" She shoveled the rest of the pancakes into her mouth so that she wouldn't have to answer anymore questions.

"Well, if I read it wrong, then what did it really say?"

Old Dolio pointed at her full mouth, trying to get out of answering. However, Melanie started batting doe eyes at her girlfriend. Old Dolio swallowed, sighed, and gave in. "Okay, fine. It's my birthday."

Melanie, always wanting to show Old Dolio affection, immediately pulled her girlfriend for an tight squeeze. "Awwww, babe! Happy Birthday!"

Old Dolio founder herself turning red again. She didn't say anything. She just loved all the attention that she was receiving, especially when Melanie started planting kisses on her cheek.

"So what are we doing", asked Melanie, when she finally released her girlfriend.

"What do you mean?"

"For your birthday! We have to do something special!"

Old Dolio froze. She was not expecting that question. Her parents never did anything for her birthday, unless she counted that last scam they did that turned out to be a plan to rob her and Melanie. Even after having lived with Melanie for a few months and receiving more affection than she ever had before, she still didn't expect anything for her birthday. She was turning twenty-seven, after all. Everything that she wanted to do for her birthday before was all kid's stuff. So she shrugged her shoulders and said "Nothing, I guess."

Melanie scoffed in disbelief. "Nothing?" Old Dolio nodded slightly. "But we have to do something to celebrate?"

"I can't really think of anything I want to do"

Melanie began racking her brain. She just had to do something for Old Dolio's birthday. She deserved it after all she had been through. "Okay... What if... we went to a fancy restaurant?"

Old Dolio shook her head. "I kind of just wanted to stay here tonight."

No to that idea. But Melanie wasn't going to give up yet. "What if we played some mini-golf?"

"I don't really like golf."

Melanie was getting more and more desperate for ideas. "What if I sat on your face?"

"You did that last night"

"I can do it again. Oh, wait. I guess that wouldn't really be a special occasion if I did last night, did I?" She looked over at Old Dolio, who was eyeing her plate of pancakes.

"So are, uh... Are you gonna eat those", she asked sheepishly, as she usually did.

Melanie was almost in disarray at how little Old Dolio seemed to care about. "Come on, Hon", she pleaded. "You're telling me there's nothing you want to do today?"

Old Dolio shrugged again. For some reason, she found herself avoiding eye contact with Melanie. "I've never done anything for my birthday before. I'm used to it now."

Melanie could feel her blood boil when she heard Old Dolio's reasoning. It made her want to storm from the table, drive all the way to Robert and Theresa's meager apartment, and punch them in their old and cheating faces. She'd also take all her stuff back while she was at it. But she didn't want to do anything that would scare Old Dolio so she took a deep breath and calmly asked "How come you never did anything for your birthday before?"

"Well, my parents-" Old Dolio stopped herself, upon realizing, yet again, the common denominator in very different life experiences. "Oh"

Melanie put an arm around Old Dolio and began softly stroking her hair. "Look, I know that your parents are assholes who treated you like a prop. But you live with me know. And I fucking love you. That means that whatever you want, I will make it happen for no other reason than I want to make you happy. So I'm gonna ask you again. Is there anything you wanna do for your birthday?"

Old Dolio thought about it for quite a bit. She knew this was something she had wanted for a long time. That was why her mother had brought it up in the first place when she was berating her. Over time, however, the constant lack of a birthday made her push the thoughts out of her head. Perhaps, it was because of this that she had no idea what to say. "I do. I really do. I just don't know what."

"Look at me" Old Dolio followed her instructions and the two of them locked eyes. Melanie put on her smile that, along with the warmth in the look of her eyes, made Old Dolio feel safe. "Let's make a deal. You think about it while we're at work and whatever you've come up with by the end of the day, we'll do that. Okay?"

"Okay", Old Dolio nodded.

Melanie couldn't help but notice that Old Dolio had taken her eyes of off her and was once again eyeing her plate. "Do you wanna finish this?"

Old Dolio didn't say anything. Shs just took the plate from Melanie and began scarfing down the rest of her pancakes.

* * *

Old Dolio's job as a gas station clerk meant her shift was a lot shorter than Melanie's. That meant that when Old Dolio was finished with work, she had to walk home while Melanie was still at her job. It was strange at first, being away from Melanie. But over time, she became used to it. The quiet walks home were a good way of being alone with her thoughts. For example, Melanie wanted her to come up with ideas for what the two of them could do for her birthday. And so, that was what she did. The entire walk home she racked her brain, thinking of any interesting activity that the two of them could do.

And she couldn't come up with anything.

As she walked up the stairs to their apartment, Old Dolio began to mentally berate herself. She blamed herself. She knew she shouldn't but she still did anyway. Her mother's voice kept echoing in her head.

_"we don’t call you hon, or sweetheart, or baby. We don’t give birthday presents wrapped up with little bows"_

She shouldn't blame herself, she thought. Like Melanie said, it wasn't her. It was her parents. But she had been living with Melanie for a few months now. She could have thought of something in that time. Instead, she simply tried to keep it to herself. Because that's what she was trained to do. Her whole life. It didn't matter when it was her birthday when she still lived with her parents. To them, it was just a day to do another job. And she became so used to it, that she forgot to stop.

However, all that seemed to melt away when she entered the apartment. To her surprise, the lights were on. At first, she became anxious. Did someone break in? Were they robbed again? But then she saw that Melanie wasn't actually at work. She was in the kitchen, her face lying on the the counter. She was fast asleep.

Just being anywhere near Melanie was enough to remind Old Dolio of the truth. That she was loved, safe, and that she didn't do anything wrong. She took a deep breath and approached her girlfriend, feeling secure. When she had finally calmed herself down, though, something dawned on her. Why wasn't Melanie at work? Why would she lie to her like that? And what was the object sitting next to her that was all wrapped up in tin foil?

Old Dolio gently tapped Melanie on the shoulder. "Mel", she said in a hushed tone. "Mel, I'm home"

Melanie's eyes fluttered as she tiredly lifted her head. "Oh. Hey, babe", she said, dreamily. She almost laid her head back down before she did a double take and was jolted awake when she realized the situation. "Oh, shit! What time is it?"

"Why are you here at home", Old Dolio asked, a slight twinge of concern creeping through her distinct low voice. "Why aren't you at work?"

Melanie rubbed her eyes, partially to adjust them and partially because she was exasperated. "I called in today", she explained in a rushed and panicked tone. "So instead of working, I could make you this cake. And it took me a few tries because I've never done it before but I finally got it right." She practically tore the tin foil off of the pan and revealed a chocolate cake with '27' written in sprinkles. "And I was gonna pick you up from work so I could be all 'Surprise! I called in sick so I could spend the whole day with you!' But then I guess I passed out because I was really tired and I-"

Before Melanie could finish what she was saying, Old Dolio cupped her face and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. As soon as she did, Melanie knew that Old Dolio didn't care about any of her explanations. That wasn't what mattered.

"Thank you", Old Dolio said when they finally released each other. "This is... This is the best thing I could've asked for. Really."

"Really", Melanie asked, standing up. "There's nothing else that we can do today that'll top this?"

"I'm just glad you're here", Old Dolio responded, wistfully. "Usually, when I come back home, you're still at work and I'm all alone. And now I get to spend to the rest of the day with you." She picked up the cake pan and looked at in awe. "No one's ever done something like this for me before. Thank you."

Melanie felt her heart leap at all the words Old Dolio was saying. The idea that being there was all she needed on what should be her most important day was enough to make her swoon. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed her girlfriend on the cheek. "I love you."

Old Dolio began to turn red again. "I love you too."

"Happy Birthday, Old Dolio"


End file.
